Summer Fun Update

Since I posted yesterday about all of the things I didn't get accomplished this summer, my hubby would like me to report on the things that he did get finished this summer, specifically, the fact that he planted somewhere between 15-20 hot pepper plants which happen to be thriving.

Good Job Baby!

Irish up!

Your Inner European is Irish!

Sprited and boisterous! You drink everyone under the table.

Who's Your Inner European?

Summer fun

So here we are in the second week of August and I started thinking about all the things I said I would get done this summer. For example,

• Pick strawberries and make jam
• Clean out the Linen Closet
• Hang ALL of my laundry outside
• Plant Herbs
• Walk the dogs
  
• Cross Stitch

So, how many of the above things have I actually accomplished this summer... zero.

Am I upset about that? Not really. I did get some cross stitch finished when I was on bed rest, I don;t really need 40 jars of strawberry jam, the laundry got finished even if it was hung on the drying rack inside, I always kill the herbs, so why bother planting them, the dogs get plenty of exercise chasing tennis balls (bunnies, lightening bugs, butterflies, each other) in the back yard, and the linen closet will wait for me no matter how many times I assure it its ok to clean itself.

So what have I been doing? Well, aside from throwing up... I have been reading. For pleasure. ALot.

This is the summer in a VERY long time where I have not been looking at classes in the fall. I will not have assigned readings, I won't have anything and it is glorious.

Currently I am knee deep in a few books, all of which I would recommend:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

*Wonderful recounting of personal experiences with
eating local, growing/raising your own food and the movement to eat in season.

Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende



*The story of the life of Inés Suárez a fictional Spanish woman
who fought like a conquistador and helped to settle Chile.

And Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy



*Poking fun at pregnancy and its discomforts.
A little too much info at times, but it cracks me up!

Goodwill to Babies!

It has been a LONG time since I went to Goodwill. I needed to get out and about today (even thought it is 105 today!) so I thought I would check out Goodwill for some babygear.

For the grand total of $11.20 I got

5 onezies in a variety of greens and yellows. One even has the cutest little lizards on it! ($5.00 total)

A Long sleeve maternity blouse for me this fall ($4.50)

A package of drawer stops, you can never be too careful ($1.00)

And 2 board books, The Very Quiet Cricket and Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z. ($.60)

Cravings

I am almost 15 weeks pregnant and the one question I get asked the most aside from "How are you feeling?" is "What are you craving?" I usually answer nothing really, aside from lemonade which I could drink gallons of everyday and never be satisfied.

However, I realized that this is not an entirely true statement. I do have cravings its just that they change from day to day. For example, I am at this very moment craving macaroni and cheese in the worst possible way. Not just any macaroni and cheese, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, you know the blue box, the orange powder, the chemicals... yum!

Anyway, It stuck me Saturday night that this craving for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese was an honest-to-god craving as I was standing over the stove eating cold, congealed, Kraft Mac 'n Cheese out of the pan with a fork and wishing, wishing that I had more.

Is it wrong...

That it is 90 bazillon degrees outside with 125% humidity and I want to bake cookies? Specifically these cookies from Mrs. Wilt because they seem so deliciously bad for you?

I'm just asking is all...

Have a great weekend everyone!

I promise to post actually photos on Monday!

I Heart Yoga

I am not an exerciser. In fact, I can admit, that although I have "worked out" in the past, I absolutely hate to exercise. It is not that I am a couch potato or anything like that, I would rather just be active than have to carve time out of my day to actually exercise.

I knew that when I got pregnant I would have to change my ways a bit and make sure that I was active, it would help me keep the weight gain down (lost 6 pounds so far, and I'm not trying, I eat everything I swear), help me with labor (or so I hear), and would be good for the baby. So I started looking into activities that I could do as a woman who is pregnant and out of shape. I found yoga. Specifically, prenatal yoga. And I love it! Not only can I feel my body strengthening and stretching, becoming more supple, it is just so darn relaxing. I kinda feel like a bowl of Jell-O when I get done, a strong, powerful bowl of Jell-O.

I am so pleased that I started this... hopefully I can continue with this through the rest of my pregnancy and after.

Did you do anything special exercise wise when you were pregnant?

P.S. The Yoga Mama and Yoga Baby tank set is from a company called Sugartush (www.sugartush.com) a friend of mine owns/runs it with her sister in law. Such cute things!

Bedroom Rennovation IV

So, some of you might remember that hubby and I were in the process of renovating our bedroom. Well, we finally had new carpet instaledl yesterday... let me check that off of the list.

1. Paint Bedroom
2. New Bedding and Blinds for Bedroom
3. New Carpet for Bedroom
4. New Furniture for Bedroom
5. New Curtains We decided we didn't need curtains with the new blinds
6. Get Really Big Mirror

We are officially one step closer to being finished with the bedroom.

Now on a somewhat lighter note:

I am pretty sure that my big dog is a Buddhist, or at least very Zen. Any time I start to get a little too materialistic or prideful, he makes sure that I an snapped right back into the correct balance and gt my priorities straight.

For example, yesterday after the carpet was installed I vacuumed a couple of times to get up the new fuzz, and was marveling at the new addition to the bedroom and really at how good it looked. The carpet installers had left maybe, maybe 10 minutes prior when my big dog walked into the bedroom and barfed all over the new carpet. The spot he chose to deposit this gift? 2 inches from the threshold... one more step and he would have been in the hallway... but no... my priorities were out of wack and he needed to let me know that.

Thank you Beo, for setting mommy straight. :)

Making Vanilla Extract

Under normal circumstances I am an avid baker. Now that I am pregnant I seem to have lost some of my baking zeal, although I did make a wicked good batch of butterscotch blondies the other day.

Baking is a great way to keep your food costs down. Plus you as the baker have complete control over what you put in the food you make. There are a few ingredients that I use all the time that are fairly costly, nuts, chocolate, and vanilla extract.

I have been keeping my baking costs down by buying both chocolate and nuts in bulk and by making my own vanilla extract. It is really easy to do and the results are fabulous.

First you will need a clean glass bottle (I reused a mini champagne bottle, 6-8 oz is a good size). I washed mine in the dishwasher to make sure it was good and clean.

Then you need vanilla beans. I get mine at Trader Joes. They are 2 beans for $5.00 (when buying vanilla beans make sure that they don't rattle in the bottle. If they rattle they are old and dried out)

Lay the beans on a cutting board and with a sharp paring knife slit open one side of the bean (try not to cut all the way though)

Put the beans in the clean bottle. Cover with Vodka or any other clear liquor.

Let it sit for 2 weeks before using. Shake before using, the vanilla seeds settle to the bottom.

After every use, be sure to refill the bottle with vodka, that way the vanilla keeps fermenting and your extract lasts for a good long time.

Some Days My Heart Just Hurts...

I was reading the news at CNN.com and Michael Vicks' hearing for the dogfighting charges he has been brought up on. I hope he is found guilty... I hope his punishment is to be treated the way fighting pit bulls are treated.

Some days my heart just hurts from all of the cruelty in the world.

On Tuesday I took Jax (the little dog) to the vet to have his nails trimmed. When I pulled into the parking lot I saw both a SPCA van and an Animal Control Van and wondered what was going on. It seems animal control picked up a dog that was too severely injured for the SPCA to treat so they brought it to the only emergency vet in the area. It seems the dog's owner had thrown him off a bridge. The good news is that they arrested the owner and it seems the dog can be helped. I hope the owner is found guilty and I hope they throw him off a bridge.

I don't know how anyone could hurt an animal intentionally, but it makes me wonder how these people treat other people.

Some days my heart just hurts from all of the cruelty in the world.

(It seems one pit bull got revenge on Mr. Vick... very funny)

High School Meme

I found this at Rose Cottage Lane... have fun an consider yourself tagged!

High School Spirit Meme

1. Who was your best friend? Hummm... Joy, Sara, Katie

2. Did you play any sports? Yup, Cheerleading

3. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't have a car in high school.

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? In my family room with my friends, their boyfriends, and my boyfriend.

5. Were you a party animal? In my own way yes I was.

6. Were you considered a flirt? Not just a flirt... I was considered THE flirt.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Orchestra... I played the flute.

8. Were you a nerd? Smart yes, honors student yes, nerd, no.

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? Nope.

10. Can you sing the fight song? I don't think we had a fight song.

11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mr. Blake. He died at 36 and we didn't get to finish out the year with him... it was truly tragic.

12. What was your school mascot? Black Panther (the animal not the militant group)

13. Did you go to the Prom? Yup. I wore a short flirty red dress too.

14. If you could go back, would you? Sure, I had a great time in high school.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? Not being able to throw my cap in the air because it was bobby pinned to my head.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? We didn't have one.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? I babysat all though high school, college, and into graduate school.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? The cafeteria with my friends.

19. Have you gained weight since then? Too much to mention, although I am pregnant so lets blame it on that. ;)

20. What did you do after graduation? We had "Senior Celebration" where our entire graduating class went on a dinner cruise until the next morning.

21. What year did you graduate? 1994

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? Neal VanHoeven, my boyfriend at the time.

23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? Nope, I don't do reunions. If I really liked you I'd still be talking to you now.

First Trip to Aldi

I have been on vacation the last couple of days. It was nice to be home and not at work, but it was not nice to be without Internet access.

Yesterday, my mom and I made a trip to Aldi. She had been to one store in the past, and I had never been, so we were looking forward to this adventure. We really went just to scope things out and see if all of the things that Amy (Motherload) and Meredith (Like Merchant Ships) said about Aldi were true.

Both mom and I were pleasantly surprised. The store was very clean and well organized. No frills to be sure, but who really cares about that anyway. The prices were PHENOMENAL!!! As I haven't tried any of the items I bought I can't attest to the quality just yet, but I will let you know what I think when I open something.

For $9.80 I got

2 dozen large eggs -- 2 x 1.24
2 cans tropical fruit salad -- 2 x .69
1 can mushroom stems and pieces -- .45
1 bag (6) cinnamon raisin bagels -- .99
1 can refrigerated cinnamon rolls (soo bad for you yet so good!) -- 1.89
1 Pineapple -- 1.89
1 bunch of Dole bananas -- .72

I am doing my regular marketing on Sunday and will calculate how much this would cost me there.

I don't know that I will completely make the switch to Aldi, but I will certainly split my marketing between my regular store and Aldi.

Rockin' Girl Blogger

Thank you, thank you, thank you... it is such an honor to accept this... oh wait... I'm not at the oscars I'm at work... bummer.

Anyway, Katie at How to Save Money the Easy Way nominated me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger.

Hehehe... I love it! Thanks Katie!

So here is how this works:
If you would like to participate, the rules are simple:

-Place the badge on your blog. (Check!)
-Give credit to the person that started the award Roberta http://www.robertaferguson.com/ (Check!)
-Pick 5 rockin’ girls of your choice and add them to the list (Check!)

Below is the list of those who I have been named Rockin’ Girl Bloggers.

1. Julie at A Little Pregnant (Who knew infertility could be this funny?)
2. Ari at Baking and Books
3. Eric at Librarian Avengers (Striking a blow for librarains everywhere)
4. Not Martha
5. Amy at Motherload: The Mom Advice Blog

We Heard the Heartbeat!!!!

Finally! We heard the baby's heartbeat yesterday. at 160 beats per minute our little hummingbird is right on track. :)

Here is what is sounded like:
http://pregnancy.about.com/library/media/audio/fetalheart.ram

Who Piddled in the World’s Cheerios?

Why is everyone so surly? Why does it seem that everyone is having a perpetual bad day? Why does it seem as if everyone I come in contact with on a daily basis had had their cheerios piddled in?

I have a 20 minute commute to work through the streets and main roads of suburbia USA. I do not have to drive on highways on my way to work. There are lots of trees and lots of flowers and usually not too many people overly stressed and under caffeinated. That is until this morning. I was flipped off, given the bird, given the finger, shown the middle finger salute, etc. twice (that’s 2 times) on my 20 minute drive to work.

Now, I would understand this behavior had I just cut someone off, had I run a red light, had I run over someone’s dog or child or husband, etc. But both times today I was being NICE to the other person.

For example, instance number 1. I was sitting in stopped traffic in front of a convenience store. There was a car waiting to exit the parking lot. As traffic in front of move began to move I stayed stopped and waved to the driver in the parking lot that she could go. She inched ever so slowly toward the street and then stopped and shook her head. I could see that there were no other cars coming so I waved her on again. She mouthed “I can’t go, I can’t see” to which I mouthed “I can, you’re ok” meaning I can see in the other direction and there are no others cars. I then smiled which has apparently taken on some other meaning in today’s society which roughly translates to “you’re a big doo doo head and I hate you.” She throws up her hand in exasperation (I don’t exactly know what was so exasperating) grips the steering wheels until her knuckles turned white, stomped on the gas peddle and sped off while GIVING ME THE FINGER!!!

Uh… sweetheart… what exactly did I do, other than be nice and try to help you that was worthy of that particular gesture?

The second time was, really, even more precious. There was a mother (or maybe a young grandmother) walking with a little boy (maybe 3 or 4). The little boy was skipping and prancing, it was cute. I looked out the window, and smiled at the mother, grandmother. She kept walking by, not really a big deal and then gave me the finger behind her back so that the little boy wouldn’t see. HUH?

Did I forget to have my fangs filed down? If there something so off putting about my smile or my attempt to connect with other people and make the world a little more pleasant that is making these people lash out? What is going on with the world?

Generous Friends and Baby Gear

Saturday hubby and I went to visit friends and attend their son's first birthday party. They really lucked out as the weather was beautiful and all of the kids could play outside in the pool and with the slip and slide.

After most of the other guests left we stuck around so that we could visit and my friend says to me... come up to the attic and lets see what baby stuff I have for you. It seems that even before I was pregnant she had been saving some of her almost brand new baby gear for me. How generous!!!

I was pleased to accepts almost $1000 in baby stuff most of it in pristine condition.

She gave me

• The Ocean Wonders Acquarium Cradle Swing
• Baby Papsan Infant Seat
• Peg Perego Infant Carrier with base
• Extra Base
• Baby Einstein Discover and Play Activity Gym
• Medela Breast Pump
• Lots of Playtex Bottles
• Lots of Burp Cloths
• Bibs for every holiday (e.g. baby's first thanksgiving, etc.)
• Lamaze First Mirror
• A Bundle Me for the infant carrier
  

I am so thankful that she thought of us and so grateful for her generosity.

There is more to come too... in January there is a Jumperoo and an Exersaucer coming our way.

And if its a boy... more baby clothes than I know what to do with.

Thank you dear friend... thank you!

I Completely Forgot...

to mention that I made Meredith's (Like Merchant Ships) cobbler for our Fourth of July BBQ. I am not a fan of cobblers, crisps, brown bettys, buckles, slumps, etc.; but, this cobbler changed my mind! It was super easy to make and was a big hit with the whole family. I even liked it. I used blueberries instead of the blackberries Meredith used. I would highly recommend this recipe!

How to Make a Cobbler

Cleaning... hummmmm

SO I went to yoga last night instead of dusting the entire house and windexing all the glass surfaces. Tonight, since it is Thursday, I should be at home vacuuming all of the carpets, but I won't be. I will be watching the newest Harry Potter movie instead. This is why Friday is a "nothing" day in my cleaning schedule, it gives me the opportunity to make up what I missed during the week. What a rockin' Friday night I will have, dusting and vacuuming.

Do I know how to party or what?

Since it looks like I will be sticking with this prenantal yoga class I will have to do some rescheduling as far as cleaning goes.

Cheap Flea Treatment

My dogs, Beo and Jax, are truly my babies. I would do just about anything for them. I want to protect them from getting lost, so I had them microchipped. I want to keep them safe from deadly doggy diseases so I have them vaccinated. I want to keep them free of worms, fleas, and ticks so they are both on a heartworm preventative and on a once-a-month flea and tick preventative.

What I don't like about the flea and tick preventative is how darn expensive it is when purchased from my vet. $24.00 per month for both dogs. I looked in to buying it through mail order catalogs like Drs. Foster and Smith and those places advertised on TV like 1-800-petmeds and PetRX but I wasn't impressed by their prices either.

The best deal I have found so far is on ebay.

Instead of paying $36 for a three month supply for one dog ($72 for three month for both dogs) I was able to get a three month supply for both dogs for @ $50.00 with shipping. Thats a $22 savings.

And I assure you it is exactly the same thing I would buy from my vet.

Ebay its a good thing! (As Martha Stewart would say)

Pregnancy Lifesavers

Although I am not yet out of my first trimester, there are a few products that are making my pregnant life a whole lot easier.

I have been lucky enough to escape the horrors of morning sickness, and have actually lost 5 pounds to date.

With this said, my waist line is disappearing and much of the clothes in my closet no longer fit.

That is why I am loving... my bella band!

This tube top like contraption allows me to wear regular pants and skirts unbuttoned and unzipped without them actually falling off.

I am also employing bra extenders on a daily basis.

I have a large bust (38 DD to be exact) and I swear it is getting bigger by the minute. The bra extenders help prolong the wearing of my old bras.

I am also very thankful someone invented Breath Right Strips!

The extra progesterone in pregnancy causes the membranes in your nose an sinuses to swell, making it feel like you have a stuffed up nose and making it more difficult to get a good nights sleep. These little babies are a lifesaver!!! I can breath all night long and more importantly... I can SLEEP!